Neighbourhood in Amsterdam-Noord
Gardener in Tuindorp Oostzaan
What makes a garden in Tuindorp Oostzaan different from one three streets away, and what that means for what goes into the ground.
Noord district, Amsterdam
What to reckon with in Tuindorp Oostzaan
- Two building phases in one estate: 1919 to 1924 and 1934 to 1939, with a noticeable difference in plot depth.
- A high half and a low half; in the low half, water stands on the grass for hours after rain.
- 5,736 homes, 68 per cent single-family. Source: Statistics Netherlands (CBS), neighbourhood figures 2025.
- Narrow rear lanes. Whether a wheelbarrow fits decides a one-day job or a three-day one.
A tuindorp is a garden village: a pre-war housing estate laid out with real gardens instead of courtyards, built by the city for working families. Tuindorp Oostzaan went up in two waves, roughly a thousand homes between 1919 and 1924 and another six hundred between 1934 and 1939, and you can read that gap in the plots. Around Zonneplein, Meteorenweg and Kometensingel the first wave is tight; in the streets named after apple varieties, Goudreinetstraat and Elstarstraat, the plots run deeper and the back of the garden opens onto a lane.
The estate has a high-lying and a low-lying half, and for garden work that is the only distinction that matters. In the low half, water sits on the grass visibly longer after heavy rain. We check that before laying a single slab: if there is still standing water twelve hours after the rain, no terrace goes in until there is a line taking the water somewhere it can go.
Of the 5,736 homes here, 68 per cent are single-family houses, which is high for Amsterdam. That has a practical side. On Kwekerijlaan, Moestuinlaan and Boomgaardlaan the frontage is narrow and the rear lane is tight, and whether a wheelbarrow fits through decides whether a job takes one day or three. We ask that on the phone rather than discovering it on the morning.
Closed over at most
50%
We will not build a garden that is more than half hard surface. On this ground the water has to go somewhere.
Lead time
3 to 6
Working days for a garden up to a hundred square metres, spread over two weeks.
We come back within
12mo
Anything we plant that fails to take, we replace within a year at no cost.
What we come to Tuindorp Oostzaan for
Garden renovationThe whole garden out and back in, with a scale drawing before the first spade goes in.
Paving and terraceWhy a terrace goes out of level here, and what has to sit underneath to stop it.
Planting and bordersWhat takes on wet peat soil, and what is gone again within three years.
Pruning and hedgesHedges, shrubs and trees, and what does and does not need a permit in Amsterdam.
Garden maintenanceFour fixed rounds a year, with what happens in each of them written down.
First whether it can be done, then what it costs
Photograph the spot where the water stands. That answers half the question on its own.
Questions from Tuindorp Oostzaan
My terrace slopes towards the house instead of away from it. Can that be fixed?
Yes, and it is the repair we do most often here. The cause is nearly always the same. The house stands on piles reaching sand at around twelve metres and does not sink; the garden sits on the made-up layer above the peat and does. After thirty years the terrace is lower than the doorstep and the water runs the wrong way. We lift the paving, build up with a compacted layer and relay it falling away from the wall.
Is there anything left in the soil from the 1960 flood?
On 14 January 1960 the dike along Zijkanaal H gave way and about 2,700 homes in this estate stood in water. Nothing of that is traceable in the soil today. What is still visible is the raising work carried out afterwards in parts of the estate, which is why two gardens in the same street can differ by twenty centimetres in level.
Is a hedge better than a fence here?
On the street side usually yes, and not for looks. A hedge holds the soil and takes up water, while a fence on posts in this ground starts leaning within about ten years. At the back it depends on the width of the lane. With less than sixty centimetres between boundary and path a hedge becomes an obstruction, and then a fence is the honest answer.
The other neighbourhoods we work in
Your request
Six fields and a photo. With the area and the type of garden we can name a band before coming out; without those two, any answer is a guess.
Start with a photo
One photo from the back door showing the whole garden almost always saves a trip. Send two if you like: one of the whole and one of the spot where it goes wrong.